Friday Cocktail: The Dean Martini

At this time of year, we're all about family, spending time with loved ones, and getting on the sauce. But it's also a good time of year to remember the wonderful people that can't be with us and raise a glass to them.

Dean Martin's vast array of Christmas classics is always, always playing in my household during December - Christmas wouldn't be the same without his joyously smooth voice singing laid-back, smooth festive tunes - but it wasn't until recently I discovered he passed away on Christmas Day.

I know he and his fellow Rat Pack members were partial to a martini, and I also know Dean loved an orangey variation on it called the Flame of Love, so I decided to create a simple but tasty (and ever so slightly festive) take on a martini to sip on Christmas Day in Dino's honour. It's classy, effortlessly smooth and makes me very happy indeed - just like the King of Cool himself.


'The Dean Martini' recipe (serves one)

Ingredients:

30ml Vodka or Gin (let's not start that martini debate now - just use whichever you prefer)
45ml Aperol
15ml Vermouth
Tiny dash Orange blossom water
Orange zest, to garnish

Shake it!

1. Make sure your martini glasses are chilled - I tend to pop mine in the freezer for half an hour or so.
2. Pour all of the ingredients into a cocktail shaker or pitcher filled with ice.
3. Stir or swirl together (there's no need to shake, this cocktail is too cool for that.)
4. Strain into a martini glass and garnish with a twirl of the zest (you can twirl it around a skewer to get the shape), but not before you've squeezed the zest over the glass to impart a little of the orange oil.

Photo from waferboard under the CCL